Taylor Leon won two of the last five tournaments, but finished ninth on the money list because she only played eight events. Liz Janangelo also won two events this year but fell just $3400 short of Violeta Retamoza’s total. Liz rates better than Violeta in every category except money, and she’s only two points short even there. That’s a tough break.

The top three players rate very closely. Fankhauser won only one tournament (Fouch and Bastel each won twice) but she led in scoring average and was the only player to play more than half of the 19 events without missing a cut. I think all three have a reasonable chance to play well in the Big Show, with Fankhauser having the best chance. Of course I predicted Top 20 status for Song-Hee Kim based on 2006 Futures Tour results and you see how that turned out. I guess by “reasonable chance to play well”, I mean they ought to be able to keep their cards for a year or two. I don’t see any of them setting the Tour on fire.

I only ranked the top 10 here, but the player at #11 in my stats was a surprise. Jane Park played only four events, finished Top 10 in two of them and nearly made the list. I’m rooting for her to get exempt at Q-School.

The players who finished sixth through fifteenth on the Futures money list and are not currently LPGA non-exempt players earn automatic entry into the Final Qualifying Tournament (Q-School) which starts November 29th. Those ten players are Liz Janangelo, Brandi Jackson, Vikki Laing, Taylor Leon, Ha Na Chae, Onnarin Sattayabanphot, Janell Howland, Ji Min Jeong, Caroline Larsson and Eunjung Yi. The first sectional qualifying tournament starts on Wednesday in Rancho Mirage, California with the second qualifier beginning October 2 in Venice, Florida.

3 comments:

HDI enjoy your blogI understand (LET) glamour girl Nikki Garrett is scheduled to go through the LPGA qualifying school this year. In your opinion, how do you see her chances of making it on tour next year and can she compete with the big girls?

Nikki won twice in a row on the LET back in May and finished second in her last event, which certainly suggests she can play. She will have to make it through two rounds of Q-school to get exempt and I've heard that only 10 cards are available. I'd say her chances are good to at least gain non-exempt status, but getting one of the full cards will require some luck. Q-school is a real crap-shoot.

Hound Dog Speaks!

To hear me talk live about my favorite subject every week, check out "Inside The LPGA" at 7pm EDT every Tuesday night at PrimeSportsNetwork.com. Karen Palacios-Jansen and I will review the previous event and preview the upcoming week in the LPGA. If you miss the live broadcast, the archive of it will remain available until the next show goes out live.

About Me

I'm Ken Hartis, a forty-something dude from the Southeast USA. Grew up watching the Masters on TV every year. Started following the LPGA occasionally a few years ago, but really got addicted around the time Grace Park jumped in the water at the 2004 Kraft Nabisco. I like to think of my ladies' golf fanaticism as "my mid-life crisis". It's a lot cheaper than buying a Harley! Thanks for checking out the site, drop by anytime! You can contact me directly at hounddog.lpga@yahoo.com